Esox Hylius
by Twilight Scribe
Summary: What had started as a fun, relaxing fishing trip quickly degenerated into an exercise in futility and torment.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Zelda? Don't own. 

AN: The main thing that got me writing this was the way time moves in the Twilight Princess fishing minigame. It moves fast, insanely fast, much faster than the day-night cycle in the field. In about eight minutes of fishing, at least two days had gone by. It made me think about how just sixteen minutes would equal almost an entire workweek spent sitting in a canoe. What would it be like? What would anyone watching from the shore think? It's silliness at its best.

And, for anyone who's wondering, "Esox" is the genus name for any Pike. "Hylius" is what I believe the species name would be. Giving us, drumroll please, "Hylian Pike" in the formal Latin nomenclature.

* * *

What had started as a fun, relaxing fishing trip quickly degenerated into an exercise in futility and torment. Despite his considerable stamina, Link's body simply couldn't withstand the abuse he was forcing on it and the hero was suffering the consequences.

Three, bordering on four days spent hunched over in the front of a canoe had taken it's toll. His arms burned from the constant effort of paddling the canoe and holding the holding the fishing rod. Thanks to his fatigue, the light bamboo pole seemed just as weighty as the sword slung across his back. His back itself was cramped and scorched from holding one position under the hot sun. It twinged painfully every time he cast his lure and forced his spine to move. His feet and legs tingled with the pricks of electrified pins and needles, but his bottom was so numb from the stretch of days spent sitting that it was as if it never existed. On several occasions Link had felt the urge to stand and check if it was still there, remembering just in time that by standing up he risked tipping the canoe and scaring away the reason he was on the lake at all: his prey.

The fish responsible for Link's distress hovered within casting range, suspended sedately in one spot beneath the pond's glassy surface. The gigantic Hylian Pike had not moved an inch since Link had found it. It sat and watched, amused as Link struggled and failed to interest it in his selection of lures, baits, and hooks. Every half hour or so it would open it's mouth and let out a stream of bubbles. Link knew it sounded absurd, but he was sure the pike was mocking him, rubbing in the fact that he was still underwater and not flopping around in the hero's boat. It was infuriating, but the fish's ploy backfired. Instead of making him give up and paddle back to the dock, the taunting only spurred Link on.

He would catch this fish. He was the hero and he wouldn't go back to the shop until his quest was complete and the pike was in his custody. A brave and honorable goal, but one that Link knew, and suspected the pike knew too, was unlikely.

The prey Link was angling after was no dumb fish. It was a legend among the fishermen who frequented Hena's shop and a worthy adversary, one who deserved every ounce of distrust and animosity Link was sending at it. The beast was at least forty inches long, had rows upon rows of needle teeth, each one as strong as a steel awl, and ridges of spikes edging its fins sharp enough to slice right through boot leather, or the hand that held them carelessly. There were rumors that it wasn't really a pike but a half-pike, half-skullfish hybrid. Whatever its heritage, the formidable fish had outsmarted every angler who came after it, earning its nickname "The Terror of the Deep."

Faced with that truth, Link had to admit it was useless. From the moment he hopped into his canoe and paddled out from the dock he knew his chances for success were low. However, now they were near nonexistent. For the first time in his days of fishing, Link found he was unable to concentrate. On his boat, Link had been able to meet most of his basic needs. If he had a free hand he could raise his shield for some shade and shelter, surrounded by water he would never go thirsty, and if he so chose, though he never did, he could have taken naps in the canoe. He also had a bucket. The only thing he was unable to sate was his hunger.

Link's stomach, far past growling, roared, protesting its emptiness and demanding to be fed. The racket it was making could no doubt be heard on shore and mistaken for thunder.

When he first set out to fish, Link hadn't been expecting to stay out for so long, so he left the docks a bit peckish. The last thing he had eaten was a bottle of simple soup he had left over from his visit to Yeto's. He regretted having left without refilling his bottles with the superb soup his yeti host had been bragging about, but Link had been able to almost ignore his hunger by devoting all his attention to capturing his scaly foe. Now that his thoughts turned back to his stomach, food was all he could focus on. He was starving and, until he got something in his belly, he would be unable to fish. The pike would have beaten him!

That could not be allowed.

Link rifled though his supplies and equipment, desperately hoping there was something to eat that he'd forgotten in his vast collection on stuff. Unfortunately, he couldn't find a thing. There were bombs, arrows, lantern oil, just about every inedible object under the sun, but no real food. In hindsight, Link realized he might have been too gung-ho for fishing when he emptied all his bottles of potions and fairies to make room for bait. If it really came down to it, Link was sure could catch a fish, but out in the water there would be no way to cook it short of setting off a bomb in the boat, which seemed unwise. Then again, he still has bait, and he'd heard that bee larva was edible...

Link pulled out the bottle of larva and peered in at the eight writhing grubs he had left. Their tiny, squishy, segmented bodies reminded him of the last shadow insect he'd fought on Lake Hylia and suddenly the idea of catching a greengill and eating it raw became much more appetizing.

The grubs were little and disgusting, but they would stave off the hunger, maybe long enough for Link to land the mythic pike. He uncorked the bottle, cast a baleful glare at his aquatic enemy, and gulped down every last larva.

As bad as Link thought it was going to be, it proved to be fifty times worse. In his haste not to taste them, Link neglected to chew and swallowed the larva whole, and alive. They squirmed and wriggled all the way down his throat. It took all of Link's willpower to restrain himself from leaning over the side of the boat and allowing what had just gone down to come back up. He did, however, hunch over into a seated version of the fetal position and rest his forehead against the canoe's wooden gunwale. It wasn't much, but it helped.

Once his stomach stopped roiling, Link sat back up and scanned the shoreline to make sure no one had seen him. Luckily the fishing hole's business was slow at the end of the day so there wasn't anyone around to have witnessed his disgusting little snack.

Gripping his fishing rod tightly, Link prepared to cast. As nauseating as the larva had been, they were quite nutritious and restored enough of his vigor to keep him going. With the small second wind he had been granted, Link would land that pike! He was energized and ready to fish, and there was no force in this world of the next that would stop him.

With a gentle flick of his wrist, Link sent his lure arcing gracefully over the surface of the pond. The motion had been refined during the fishing marathon until Link's aim was perfect, the lure landing just two inches from the pike's face. Or, more accurately, where he knew the pike's face was.

The reason there weren't many customers near the end of each day was that the water was always murky. Currents in the lake and the daily rainstorm stirred up sediment from the lakebed and clouded the water. It happened regularly, so predictable that Hena set her clocks by it, and never lasted long but just long enough to discourage impatient fishermen.

Link waited stoically for the waters to clear, ever alert for a bite and his opportunity to set the hook in The Terror of the Deep. His patience paid off as the particles of marl began to sink back to the bottom of lake. It had only been a few minutes, but he could already make out the shapes of the swaying aquatic plants the pike had been loitering in. As the murkiness continued to dissipate the rocks, lakebed, and other fish swimming about all became visible again. The water was perfectly clear once more, and Link had to fight his hardest to hold back the anguished cry that threatened to rip from his throat.

The pike was gone.

Link couldn't believe it. The spot he had focused on for four days, the place where his fishy foe had taunted him from, it was empty. Still numb from the shock, Link realized the pike must have waited until the visibility in the lake was poor, then swam away using the floating muck as a sort of smokescreen. Good tactics, for a fish that is; but even as he admired the pike's strategy Link felt like pulling out his sword and hacking his fishing rod to pieces.

Four days, almost a week of his life, wasted fishing for that cowardly, insidious pike. Not to mention he was hungry again... He was exhausted, starving, sunburned, and generally in pain; but worst of all, Link felt defeated. After all that effort, all the suffering he'd withstood, his enemy had just scoffed and floated away. Even the twilight beasts had been more honorable than that! None of them ever fled from battle. To be snubbed by a fish, it was humiliating...

Link heaved a resigned sigh then reached behind him in the canoe and grabbed the paddle he'd stowed under the seats. He didn't like it, he hated it, but he was realistic. It was obvious that he was in no condition to pursue his quarry. The logical thing to do would be to go back and eat something before he passed out in the middle of the lake.

As he paddled back to shore, Link vowed that it wasn't the end. Once he was fit again, he would return and catch that pike. The Terror of the Deep would be his, no matter what!

But first he needed something to get the taste of bee larva out of his mouth...

* * *

AN: Yes, bee larva are edible. If you've never caught them or never tried them before, each larva restores one fourth of a heart. (Link makes a hilariously disgusted face when he eats them.) Also, the water in he fishing hole does change between clear and murky on a set schedule. It's clear during the morning and gets more clouded as the day progresses. The water quality is worst at the end of the day when it rains. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own. 

AN: Enter Hena! (You all know her, right? She runs the fishing shop, her sister runs the boat rental, and her brother's the poor sap who sells lantern oil in the Faron Woods...) This takes place during chapter one, it's Hena's point of view as she hides out in the shop watching Link fish. That girl really takes her fishing seriously. Maybe a bit too seriously... (Remember everyone, hawkeyes are the Hylian equivalent of binoculars.)

* * *

_'No way. He didn't just...? Did he? Sweet Nayru, look at his face. He totally did!'_

These were the thoughts running through Hena's head as she peered through her pair of hawkeyes out the window of the shop and across the lake. She'd been keeping tabs on Link for the last few days as he toughed it out on the water and the hero was making quite an impression on her. His determination, perseverance, and sheer moxy were astounding.

In her eyes, Link was the ultimate fisherman, the paragon of anglers. He had gone four long days, completely exposed to the elements, motionless except for the infinitesimal twitch needed to cast a lure. He had neglected to eat, to sleep, he scarcely even looked like he was breathing most of the time. Truth be told, there were several times when Hena glanced out the window and thought Link had died, only to realize he was in fact playing possum to lull his enemy into a false sense of security.

That kind of sacrifice, that kind of dedication to the art of fishing, it was a level of skill that Hena could only dream of achieving. And to stalk the Terror of the Deep? Astounding, amazing, epic! It was a fishing battle that would be told and retold throughout the ages. If Link landed that pike and lived to tell the tale, his name would go down in legend as the greatest angler of all time! Well, he'd get his picture hung up on the Wall of Fame in the shop, Hena could promise him that much.

Now, she knew, the battle was almost over. When she woke up that morning, Hena had a terrible sense of foreboding. A premonition that the aquatic duel between Link and the Terror of the Deep would conclude that very day. She had stayed at her window, glued to her hawkeyes the entire day in hopes of seeing the fateful conclusion. She would be the one to bear witness, torn between cheering Link on and mourning the defeat of such a valiant, mysterious pike. Then it happened.

From her station at the window she saw Link grasp at his stomach and turn, fumbling for something in his pack. At first she didn't understand what he was looking for, after all, if he packed any provisions he would have eaten them long ago. It was only when Hena caught the glitter of sunlight reflecting of the facets of a glass bottle that she understood what Link was planning. There wasn't a potion or some other strength-restoring draught in that bottle, no. It was the last resort, the final refuge for a starving, hard-luck fisherman.

The bait. Bee larva.

When she finally realized what Link was about to do, Hena was awed and disgusted, but mostly awed. Never, not even during her most desperate fishing marathons, had she even considered eating her bait; and here was Link, ready to swallow those squirming grubs in a heartbeat if it meant he'd get another shot at a victory over his fishy foe.

She watched, holding her breath as he uncorked the bottle and raised it to his lips, then winced in sympathetic heebie-jeebies as he gulped the whole lot of larva down in one swig. Through her hawkeyes she could clearly make out the full spectrum of nauseated facial contortions that Link's features spasmed through. She let out a relieved sigh when Link finally shook himself and picked up his rod again, ready to fish anew.

This man, Hena decided, was an angling god. He had easily surpassed her own fishing skills on every level and was still improving! Against a force of nature like Link, the Terror of the Deep didn't stand a chance. She was just about to cleaning the glass on her aquarium again, so the monster pike would have a nice view out of his new home, when the unthinkable happened.

Out on the lake Link suddenly stiffened in his canoe, shock etched across his face, and slumped over, his fishing pole falling from his hand. Quickly turning her hawkeyes to the water, she saw the spot Link had been focusing on was vacant and the water itself was perfectly clear. Hena knew exactly what had happened, that accursed pike had done the same thing to her before, many times before. It got tired of the struggle and left, using the muck stirred up by the daily rains as cover.

She hated when fish did that, it was so rude! But there was nothing she could do besides watch as Link picked up his paddle and turned his rented canoe back towards the docks. Even as he withdrew from the lake, Hena could see the fisherman's spirit still burning in Link's eyes.

Her hero may have lost this battle, but the war against the Terror of the Deep was far from over.

* * *

AN: Hm... Yep, it's like I said. Hena takes her fishing way too seriously. By the way, I'm not trying to start a Link/Hena relationship here, that would be silly. They're just friends, fishing buddies. And Hena admires the way Link will ignore the risks and do dumb things that are clearly detrimental to his health. (It's not stupid, it's heroic!) 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Why do you keep looking up here? Seriously, nothing's changed! It's the same disclaimer as always! ... Well, maybe it's not, but I still don't own.

AN: I hate catching junk when fishing, both in-game and in real life. Not only am I (and the rest of my family) almost rabidly protective of the environment, Link just seems so disappointed when he pulls up some random trash. And breaking your line and losing your hook in real life is annoying, not to mention a waste of money.

(And folks, I know Hena doesn't allow people to eat the fish they catch in the fishing hole, I know. But... let's just ignore that for the moment and say she's willing to bend the rules for Link since he's you know, saving the world and such. A hero's gotta eat.)

* * *

Link couldn't believe it. Though he was silent as he unhooked the soaked and decaying leather boot from his lure, those fishing nearby could tell he was cursing the cruel fate that condemned him to catch nothing but junk. To a serious fisherman like Link, it was physically painful to know that he had spent an entire day fishing and hadn't caught a thing. Well, nothing edible, that is.

The pile of old boots, cans, bottles (only one was salvageable), and other cast-off flotsam loomed behind Link, at least as tall as the hero himself.

He supposed that there was a bright side to all that wasted time. Hena was sure to thank him for cleaning up the fishing hole, which was nice. And he knew he was helping the environment by getting all that litter out of the water, which made him feel a bit better about his lousy catch. But unless Hena and the environment chipped in to buy him dinner, Link knew he would have to go hungry for the night. He spent the last of his rupees earlier on renting a canoe.

Link had been a bit short on rupees ever since he bought that suit of magic armor from Malo. (He had a sinking suspicion that all the rupees the armor consumed were funneling right back into Malo's profits.)

Frustrated and disgusted with the messy anglers who left their trash strewn everywhere, Link cast his line out one last time. If nothing else, he might catch measly greengill. After only a few seconds he felt a tug on the hook. It wasn't the light, nibbling pull of a fish; the force on the other end of the line was solid and continuous. A snag, again. Just his luck.

Grumbling under his breath, Link reeled his line back in, eager to see what sort of slimy, mud-covered junk he had caught this time. As he pulled it up from the water he caught a glimpse of leather, but it wasn't the discarded boot he expected. Instead of worn-out footwear, Link was delighted to find he had hooked a slightly waterlogged bag of rupees, a heavy one too. If the nice clink of currency was to be trusted, there were more than enough rupees for a hearty meal at Thelma's bar. Or, Link thought, just enough to rent a canoe...

What a terrible choice. He could leave for now and get food, or he could pursue his foe and settle his grudge with the Terror of the Deep. Survival, or honor? In the end, Link made the right decision.

That pike was going down!

-x-

Hours later in his canoe in the middle of the lake, Link's stomach growled. Why didn't he ever learn? The Terror of the Deep wouldn't be caught just by hopping in a boat on a whim and casting about wildly. Such a crafty fish needed to be pursued with a plan, a strategy, something that Link didn't have. He wasn't going to catch his pike, not tonight. What's worse, he was out of rupees again. Renting the canoe from Hena used up his windfall of wealth.

Link grimaced as his guts spoke up again, getting louder and more obnoxious with each passing minute. Next time, Link vowed, he would be smart. Next time he would make sure he was prepared to fish and to win, but this time he knew what he would have to do. After rummaging around in his pack a little he found what he was looking for. Once again, his food needs would be taken care of by his little insectoid buddies. It would be his second helping of bait in a week.

Screwing up his courage, Link uncorked the bottle and closed his eyes. Oh joy, oh yum, bee larva...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine.

AN: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think Hena takes fishing way too seriously. All the fishermen do, to some level, but she just goes above and beyond crazy for it.

* * *

This was it, the final battle, the confrontation that would decide once and for all who was best. Man or fish? It was a struggle that Link wasn't planning to lose. This time around he had come more than prepared and ready for some serious fishing.

Gathering all the supplies had taken a few days, but it was worth it. Thanks to his travels around Hyrule he had two full bottles of Superb Soup and one Rare Chu Jelly clinking about in his pack. Even if the Terror of the Deep kept him on the lake for a week, or two, again, Link would be fine. (Yeto's soup was really nutritious.)

Link settled himself into his canoe, snatched his paddle from the dock, then shoved off. The first order of business was to actually find the pike, so Link angled the prow of the canoe towards the stone arch he fished at the last time, hoping to somehow pick up a trail.

-x-

When Link finally found his prey, it was nowhere near where he had expected. Instead of hanging out at the waterfall with the other big fish, the Terror of the Deep was floating serenely in the shallows on the other side of the fishing hole. It was puzzling at first, but after scanning the water Link understood why the huge pike would lurk in the shallows instead of some other, more reasonable haunt.

Little fish. Food.

The Terror of the Deep was holding perfectly still in the midst of a crowd of greengills. It was hoping to score a meal and knew that if it pretended to be a harmless log, then a foolish greengill might swim into striking range. As convincing as the log act was, the little fish, Link was glad to see, weren't falling for it.

He wondered just how hungry the pike was. It was the autumn season in the fishing hole this time, the time when fish's appetites increase. Despite its slow metabolism, if the Terror of the Deep was having trouble hunting it would be more willing to take his lure.

Link cast his line directly in front of the pike's face, and was ignored. Not that it bothered Link. He was used to fishy indifference by now. Besides, this time around he could afford to wait.

-x-

A week and a half, eleven days, that was how long it took for Link to run out of patience. Four days of total privation while staring down a fish had been frustrating and painful before, and even worse now. Though he had his strength-restoring soups and jelly to keep him going, Link's stamina was slowly dwindling, along with his stock of provisions. There was no question that within a day, maybe less, he would be in no condition to fish.

The hero knew that if he came in off the water without the Terror of the Deep in hand this time, he wouldn't be going out again soon, likely never. It wouldn't be a strategic retreat so much as an unspoken surrender, and that could not be allowed to happen. Link, the hero of time, would not be beaten by a pike, no matter how good it was! He would have to do something, and as soon as possible, that much was certain.

Though Link did have what seemed like a foolproof plan all figured out in his head, he cycled through the various lures and baits he had left to see if there wasn't some way he could entice his foe to eat without resorting to his scheme. Nothing. The monster pike drifted forward maybe half an inch to examine the frog lure more closely, but made no moves to bite.

That settled it. The time for fair play between him and the pike was over. It wouldn't eat, it couldn't be interested in even the most alluring of baits, and it had used up every last iota of Link's tolerant nature. If ever there was a time for heroic decisiveness, it was now, before everything went sour.

Without taking his eyes off his opponent, Link reached into the secret pocket sewn into the lining of his tunic and pulled out the tiny trinket that would help him win the day. He had obtained it while fishing junk out from under the docks days ago and decided to keep it in case he needed to gain a sudden edge in the angling battle, but held off on using it until the very end. It seemed unfair, but then he had little choice at this point in the encounter. And, as fighting Zant and the countless monsters across Hyrule had taught him, battles were rarely waged between equals and seldom fair.

A tiny slipknot was all it took to affix the lure to the end of his line. Once it was secured, Link cast and watched as the lure hit the surface of the water with a loud "plunk!" and dipped less than two inches before the pike nailed it. He had never seen anything move so fast in his life. There was a flash of scales and a splash as the fish rocketed forward to swallow the lure whole. Only by sheer luck and virtue of his battle-honed reflexes was Link able to set the hook before the Terror of the Deep could pull free. It was close, but Link had the pike as good as caught. All that was left to do was to reel it in.

-x-

The party at the shop was one wild bash, made even crazier when Hena woke up and joined in the festivities. (She fainted earlier when she discovered the creature in Link's net was none other than the legendary beast of the fishing hole.) It seemed as if every angler in the Hylia Province, and some from abroad, had flocked to the fishing hole to celebrate Link's historical and much-anticipated victory.

Link himself had pulled off to the side of the party after fulfilling his social obligations as the guest of honor. He wasn't ashamed or guilt-ridden about the outcome of his angling battle, not in the least. In Link's eyes, he won fairly. Perhaps he hadn't gained his victory legally by Hena's reckoning (if she knew, that is) but it was still a fair win. A contest of man versus fish, with only their wits and skill between them. The reason Link hung back was that he didn't feel it was right to celebrate, to gloat over the Terror of the Deep's defeat, especially not when the pike was swimming angrily in circles in the separate aquarium Hena set up for it (so it wouldn't eat the other fish) as the party's other "guest" of honor.

Link just knew that to whoop it up in front of the pike would be akin to, if, Goddesses forbid, he and Midna lost, Zant taking and trapping them in a glass cell for the other Twili to ogle. A fate that made Link sick to even think about. The pike had been a worthy opponent and he wanted it treated with dignity. If he had had his way, there wouldn't have been a party at all and he would be back out questing already, but the other fishermen, and later Hena, grabbed him before he could escape.

In fact, if Link had gotten his way, the Terror of the Deep would have been thrown back after being measured, weighted, and pictographed. The pike was a legend that deserved to live on and grow. Not only would that give other anglers a chance to go after the Terror of the Deep themselves, but it would eliminate any chance of Hena finding his secret weapon. When he landed the pike in his canoe he found the fish hadn't just bit his lure, it swallowed it.

The last thing Link wanted was for the pike to get some final revenge by coughing the lure up in the tank for Hena to find. '_But then again,'_ he reminded himself,_ 'you've heard of sea monsters living for hundreds of years and when they're finally caught they've got tons of treasure and other strange stuff that they've eaten still in their stomachs. That pike's a sea monster if you've ever seen one; it won't spit anything back up.'_

Satisfied that he could keep both the pike and his head, Link took another sip of his goat's milk (A delicacy imported from far-off Ordon Province!) and relaxed. He wasn't going to go crazy with the others, but he could still enjoy himself.

-x-

When Hena awoke the next morning she got up from her comfortable spot under the buffet table with the punchbowl on her head, completely ignored the other anglers draped across the shop in various states of unconsciousness, and ran over to gaze at her new aquarium yet again. All the side effects of wild revelry, like her own fatigue and pounding headache, faded into the background as she stared at the noble fish slowly circling the tank. It was incredible, the Terror of the Deep, the monster fish that no man had ever caught, was right there!

There was something about it though... It didn;t act like the other fish in her main aquarium. Usually when a fish was caught they would struggle to escape but eventually calmed down, as if they admitted "Yeah, yeah, you got me..." The pike didn't. It had all night to get acclimated, but it wasn't gliding sedately through the water; it was still zipping around with a cocky expression, the fish equivalent of a smirk, on its face. (The smile was especially dramatic when all those long pike teeth were involved.)

Hena knew the pike was hiding something and it only impressed her more. What nerve, what unbreakable spirit! She expected nothing less from a living legend like the Terror of the Deep. Just what was it trying to tell her? Though she knew all too well that she was likely still a bit loopy from last night and imagining all this, Hena swore she saw the pike jerk its head down towards the far corner of the aquarium. Was there something it wanted her to see?

There was definitely something there, Hena could see a shape, but the whole outline was obscured by the rocks and water plants she put in the tank. Maybe from another angle... Stepping around to the other side of the aquarium, she looked in and her heart stopped. Sitting coolly in the pebbles layering the bottom of the tank, as if it belonged there, was a sinking lure, the best friend of cheaters and scoundrels.

What was it doing there? She certainly hadn't put it there, it wasn't in the tank last night, and Hena was sure she had confiscated all sinking lures years ago... At that moment the pike decided to give her a little clue. It opened its mouth and coughed up a chunk of bee larva. The chunk drifted lazily to the bottom of the tank, Hena's wide eyes tracking it the whole way. The sinking lure... Came from inside the pike? Now she was mad. Hena was usually a kind and cheerful girl, but that didn't mean she didn't have a horrible temper. As more pieces of the puzzle fell into place she vowed someone was going to pay.

Someone had been using a sinking lure in her fishing hole, and it had gotten inside the Terror of the Deep. With her knowledge of fish, it wasn't hard for Hena to deduce just what happened. Pikes weren't a bottom-feeding species, which meant the Terror took the lure when it was on a line, when someone was actually fishing with it. The logic was right. That was the only conceivable way that the Terror would have eaten the lure, but Link was the only angler to get the pike to eat, ever. Link, her hero, cheated.

Until that moment Hena never truly understood what the phrase "world crashing down around you" would feel like, but now she got it. Maybe her whole world wasn't destroyed, but it sure felt that way. The angler and friend she trusted so deeply lied to her and used an illegal lure to win. He took all the honor from the legend of the Terror of the Deep!

The pike, evil little beast that it was, let loose a stream of bubbles. It was laughing at her! How dare it? Hena shot it a venomous glare and tapped, though it was more of a punch, hard on the glass. She hoped it hurt its fishy ears. Next she turned her attention to Link. The green-suited swordsman was still sleeping in a chair behind the counter, though he looked like he would be ready to leap into action at the merest hint of danger. It wouldn't do to confront him now, not in front of all the other anglers. Hena wouldn't discredit him like that, at least not yet.

All she needed to do was bide her time until the perfect moment, then reveal how she always knew his dirty little secret. Link would no doubt want to keep his now-mythic reputation intact, so she could count on lot of free help doing the hard labor around the fishing hole, and her sister's boat rental. Maybe she could even get Link to rebuild and clean her brother's run-down cabin up in the Faron Woods, then ban him from the fishing hole forever when he finished. Oh, she wasn't going to kill the cheater, but he'd wish she did by the time she was done with him!

And as for that rude little fish... Hena looked back to the Terror of the Deep, glaring not daggers, but claymores of hate. The pike seemed surprised and darted back from the glass of the aquarium. She kept glaring and hoped her stare accurately conveyed her thoughts: You shut up and be a good trophy fish, or else.

Though she was, under normal circumstances, completely opposed to harming any sort of fish, Hena was just as enraged with the Terror of the Deep as she was with Link. It really was a monster; a sadistic, scaly fiend that seemed to love taunting poor disillusioned little girls. But, that was okay. She could taunt right back, and... What was that she heard? Oh yes: When properly prepared, pike was delicious.

* * *

AN: Like I said, crazy. And vengeful. She can be really scary when she wants to be... I think I'll go hide in my closet now. As for what happens to Link, I think I'll let you decide.


End file.
